Issue 92 - Out of the ordinary

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Out of the ordinary

Chocolate and whisky pairings have become quite popular these last years.

They seem the more approachable initiation to that dual enjoyment.

Sue Wood is one of those chocaholics. A passion which has lead her to create the Islay Chocolate Company. Yet, she does not belong to the gourmet cook world. She is an artist and when she ‘cooked', it was in a kiln to create fused glass objects.

Of course fusion could be the link here! “I started making chocolates in 2008, Sue explains.

“My friend Sally brought me wonderful truffles once. They were so scrumptious that I thought I had to learn and make them myself”.

The whole thing really started as a sideline to the art gallery. But it quickly took off and now the kiln stays cool.

As a creator, artisan chocolate maker Sue is always experimenting with new recipes for her handmade chocolates. Living on Islay, she was naturally approached by distilleries. She started a successful partnership with Bowmore last year, creating a chocolate to match Bowmore Darkest. She used an Equadorean single estate dark chocolate.

Followed this year by a dark chocolate dipped orange to accompany the launching of Bowmore Tempest in Europe.

Recently, she and I were asked to create pairings for the Auchentoshan range, to be unveiled at the distillery festival.

Sue has also worked with Whyte and Mackay for Isle of Jura. This is quite an unexpected route for an English girl having come all the way from the Scilly Islands to Islay.